Nigerian Among Two Arrested For Duping People By Posing As Customs Officials At Delhi Airport

The accused identified as Christian Anthony Maduneme with his
associate, Shelly Achhumi (41), an Indian, duped several people after
approaching them for money to clear parcel and courier.

A32-year-old Nigerian national has been arrested for allegedly duping
people of huge sums by impersonating customs officials at the Indira
Gandhi International Airport in India, the police said.

According to NDTV, the accused identified as Christian Anthony
Maduneme with his associate, Shelly Achhumi (41), an Indian, duped
several people after approaching them for money to clear parcel and
courier.

Two laptops, seven mobile phones, SIM cards, pass books, eight ATM
cards were retrieved from the accused and efforts are being made to
trace their other accomplices, police said.

Their activities came to police’s notice Vinod Kumar, Deputy
Commissioner of Customs, IGI Airport, made a complaint alleging that
several phone calls were being received at the customs office on a
daily basis, claiming that customs officers are asking for money to
clear parcel and courier.

The accused used names and letter heads of various senior officials to
cheat the people.

Senior police official (Airport) Rajeev Ranjan said, “During
investigation, we collected all relevant information. On September 6,
Shelly Achhumi, who had accounts with HDFC and ICICI banks, was traced
and later arrested. She provided her account information to dupe the
targets of the money by charging eight per cent commission from the
other accused.

“She used to work in an NGO but had no source of income since the
Coronavirus-triggered lockdown came into force. She started providing
her bank account details to only fraudsters to gain commission,” he
said.

The officer added that Shelly Achhumi would befriend the target before
cheating them.

In one of such cases, Shelly contacted the victim through a
matrimonial site and got the personnel mobile number, Facebook ID and
WhatsApp number of one Subir Bose.

“Shelly started contacting the male victim over the phone. She used
the fake identity of Anita Saha (from Amsterdam) and said she desired
to visit India for marriage-cum-tourism purpose.

“Upon arrival in India, she told him that she had been intercepted by
custom officials at the IGI Airport for carrying articles and
jewelleries beyond the permissible limit. Maduneme then posed as
custom officials and directed the victim to pay a custom fee of ?
47,900 and other subsequent amount in Indian bank accounts. Later, the
accused demanded more money on different grounds.

“The target ended up depositing huge amounts of money in different
Indian bank accounts as provided by the gang members. The accused have
duped the victim in excess of ? 69 lakh so far,” Kumar said.